I can confidently say that I am no longer a small cute snake, but I am now a big, deadly and dangerously cool snake. A lot has happened over the last 5 months since I received my titles, and when I say a lot I mean a lot. Seriously I'm lv15 now and have gained an ungodly amount of titles since, some on purpose, some by accident and many because of bravery... or stupidity.
I have been in two major conflicts with dungeons and one minor conflict with human, yes I know what they are and I am both interested and disgusted by them, like seriously... I have never seen a species so full of itself and humble at the same time, it's just so confusing.
From those three conflicts I gained many new titles and levels, I get to them in a bit. But first I want to say I've made three new companions in the month prior to these conflicts.
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My first proper friend was another snake like me, well not the same species but we both of the Serpentine Bloodline and thus naturally got along pretty well... ok we tried to kill each other the first time we met and couldn't because we were essentially of the same following and thus it didn't feel right to kill one another... also because I was too fast and could fly while she was to durable and strong.
They are a wrym, basically a big dragon snake that can't fly, but is more physically strong that their flying and walking counterparts. Our hunting area's started to overlap and we ran into each other very often to the point where we started to speak to each other and became friends.
Ok I should also mention that they also have the [System blessed] title, so they had a similar start to me except their blessing is geared towards body and not mind and soul like me. by the way If you payed attention you would realize that I am a monster and thus most of my body functions with the use of mana.
It also means that I have no gender even though I refer to myself as male at times, the same goes for the wyrm. Our friendship is a weird mix of flirting and insulting one another.
I mock here for being slow and earthbound while she mocks me for being easily scared and fragile, we would meet up twice a week and hunt together while just talking about our lives.'
We bonded over our shared hatred of mongooses and love for eating rodents, She... they prefer that gender, can do [Sky magic] and a bit of [Geo magic]. It seems that Geo magic is like Ground magic but it only affects rocks and minerals, Ground magic is like a cluster of different magics which include [Geo magic], [Flora magic] and low level [Aqua magic].
I discovered that I could barely make and control water, it takes nearly 5 times to amount of mana to use aqua magic, this is because that aqua magic is the main element of [Sea magic] just like how geo magic is the main element of [Ground magic].
I visited her nest once, it was a big cave filled with bones and the remains of anything stupid enough to try and fight a 5 foot, armored and fire breathing snake as well as anything she had for lunch.
The dark and gloomy atmosphere plus the piles of bones and decaying corpses gives the place a strange morbid beauty. That is also the same day I was introduced to the heavenly food known as roasted rabbits.
Who knew setting something on fire would improve the taste so much, We hung out at my place a few times and loved the garden and especially the statues, I think she saw the same morbid beauty in them that I saw in her corpse piles and bone art.
Apparently all serpents have a knack for aesthetics and designing things in relation to a chosen theme, my them seems to be Beautiful and Deadly with a hint of mystery while hers seems to also mystery but with horror and morbid curiosity.
We formed a communication pact with the help of the system, those of the same or similar bloodlines can communicate over long distances via the system.
Forming the pact was one of the last things we did together before the conflicts with dungeon started and for the last 4 months we have had to speak exclusively over the system while I had to defend my home, more on that later.
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My next friend I one that I mentioned before, that being the lynx that I hunted with a while back. We found each other when I was searching for him... same scenario with them being a monster and also having the [System Blessed] title.
I'm starting to think those with the [System blessed] title are natural drawn to one another, it would make sense because the system blessed us so that it could see what we would do with actual intelligence, and what better way to see what we can do by having us be drawn together and thus be force to interact with each other.
It would explain why we all feel the need to stay in this forest, I myself had wondered if I should leave during the time where I established my first basic wall. It is either this forest draws in those who are system blessed or it's because other system blessed are near... hmm, that is something to ponder later.
We would just hunt together and chat about random things, he seems like the type to not speak about much but he does chat as much as me and the wyrm do. I mean if you have the ability to talk and think normally, I guess you would speak a lot if you never had anyone who could speak back.
It was after that realization that I decided to introduce the Lynx and the Wyrm to one another. We got along well and he joint in on insulting one another thing. That was were the true friendship started, but we still have one last member of the friend group to introduce, but before that we showed him our homes and he showed his to us.
It was an old abandoned cabin made by the humans, the place was run down but he repurpose several of the house hold items to fit his needs, he collected random things he found in the forest as well as things the humans left behind when they left the area.
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The last friend I made was an unexpected one, but welcome none the less. They were a Dryad and [System Blessed] too, that kind of confirmed my theory about the system blessed ones being drawn together.
I met her I my garden while she was admiring my garden, we bonded over our love of plants. She lived a tree in the forest, not inside the tree itself nor a structure attached to it, but she was inside the mana residing in the tree.
Her story was that she used to an Ent, more specifically she used to be the Ent that I met while in the forest and the one that use to pass by territory once in a while, I wondered what happened to it, I thought I just switched its walking path.
She had evolved after reaching lv25 and became what I see now, She resembled a very short human teen girl with moss green hair with various flower growing on her body acting like clothing, one thing she kept from her time as an Ent was the fact that her elbows down was covered in hyper dense bark and ended with highly lethal claws.
She could grow extra wooden bits from these arms that still had the same durability, it was so amazing. Her home was just an abnormally large tree with a few flowers here and there. Me and the other blesses helped her spruce up her territory and started hanging out.
She was the last member of our friend group and the most reasonable one of us all. She was the laid back voice of reason, I was the kind and happy go lucky guy, the wyrm was the rough but nice girl and the lynx was the quiet, serious but secretly the nicest guy.
We all discussed our origins with one another, me and the wyrm practically born at the same place and same time. We were both eggs that came out of the last rift and hatched after crashing into the ground.
The lynx was brought here from the rift before ours as a kitten, so about about two months before the rift that brought us here and the Ent now dryad was brought here two rifts before me and the wrym, so the rift before the lynx.
She landed here as a seed and grew into an Ent, the rest is history and you should have picked up on it. I guess its time to speak about the conflicts that have kept me from seeing my friends in person over the last couple months, I still talked to them via the system during the conflict and in a day or two I will be talking to them in person... I wonder how much have they changed.
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My first conflict was with the wolves... ya know... the ones I've been turning into statues and or my food at times. Apparently they belong to a dungeon a couple miles away, it was sending out wolves to kill off the surrounding wild life so it could claim the area.
And because I kept turning its servants into dishes and decorations, it started sending swarms of wolves after me. I told my friends that this was between me and the dungeon and that I would came back to talk in person after I deal with it.
The dryad wished me luck, the lynx was silent but had the "you got this" look on his face and the wyrm told me not to die and surprisingly she bumped noses with me... I can't tell if it was just meant to cheer me up or if it was out of genuine love... I won't lie when I say that I hope it was the later.
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Thank the system that I was covered in feathered... can snakes blush? probably not, but we probably have a way of showing romantic embarrassment that I don't know off.
When I left I was lv7 and now I'm lv15 and big, the dungeon kept on sending wolves into my home and I kept killing them. In-between attacks I would chat to the others via the system and do what I normally did minus hunting since I just ate wolves.
I learning how to crush flowers and make dye, I started painting to express myself more and the end of my tail was perfect for it as it was a natural paint brush. I never expected that painting would get me four titles, [Painter] gave me the ability to control the dye and how it stained the tiles I painted on, my art when from intermediate to advanced with it, [Archivist] and [Scribe] was gained after trying to write on titles.
[Archivist] allowed me to store information onto a medium of some kind, my stone tablets. I could touch the tablet and think of a few words and the system would display those words on or above the tablet, [Scribe] gave me the power to create magic text on a surface or in the air.
I could also leave text to appear in certain areas or at certain times, like reminding myself to water the garden. I also figured out that my text carries my power so If I engrave my words onto a tablet or my intent onto a surface I could create runes.
Like a tablet that passively makes water or a tablet that slightly accelerates the growth of plants, stuff like that. Through the combination of both titles I could make tablets that could store small items while the tablet itself would display the info I have on the items.
Using the new information tablets, I catalogued all of my custom plants and the plants I could get from killing monsters with [Corpse Garden]. I carved out a big room in my mound turned small pyramid and created indents for the tablets to slot into the walls like book shelf.
I used the [Mason] title to create a variety of pots for the ground, hanging pots and pots built into the wall, I painted all of them with the designs of the plant that would be placed in them. Then I filled them with dirt and for every plant I had in the archives I had a sample stored within the tablet and displayed within the pots within the room, I even have moss and the widow vines to keep the area clean of pest.
Oh yeah, because I kept making so much dye for my paintings and pots I got the [Ink well] title. I could eat flowers and create dye from said flowers coloring and water, this made painting so much easier and I figured out how to keep the plants properties once I made the dye.
The dye was either produced from my skin or my mouth, I could blind foes my spitting dye into their eyes and I can make the type keep the toxic or beneficial properties of the flower I used to make it
I named that room the Greenhouse Archives, that wasn't the only thing I did. After a massive pack of a hundred or so wolves, the dungeon stopped sending them and I had time to spare so I expanded my territory... I also did it to piss of the dungeon.
My pyramid is at the center, my domain at the time had a radius of 25 meters and the next expansion claimed 50 meters in addition to that. My current domain is 75 meters in radius and surrounded by a bigger more powerful and beautiful wall around ten meters high, what made this wall more beautiful was the sub gardens.
My main garden I on top of the wall, these new sub gardens were like towers that were either slightly taller or short that the wall itself, they could be attached or separate from the wall itself. I made the sub gardens to act like nest for smaller animals, I knew once the dungeon conflict was done I would be bigger and the constant supply of wolf corpses would stop.
They would encourage animals to make their homes in the sub gardens and supply me with some easy access food sources were they be rodent or birds.
Because I allowed some animals to stay in my home and I also manage their population, I gained the title of [Domain Keeper] which meant any lesser creature would and could be influenced by me. If they wanted to stay within my home they would have to pay.
The few predator birds would give me a part of their kills and the horned rabbits would give me the mice and creatures they killed, horned rabbits kill things to get stronger but they don't eat meat so they were the ideal choice.
I made the gardens as a way to harvest the animals that live in them, I never expected that the animals would start paying me so they can stay... this worked out better than expected.
The lesser monsters started seeing me as a god or protector, [Sanctuary King] was gain and made it so animals and lesser monsters were naturally fond of me and worked in tandem with [Domain Keeper] so I could establish laws that they had to follow... I can't let that power go to my head, but seriously who would feel warm inside knowing something considered you great.
Because I am a merciful lord of my subjects... because I want them to feel at home I made little houses and dens for the various monsters and animals that respect the rules.
Tiny little cabins made for animals with a painted cloth door... If I'm going to be a leader, my village is going to look good.
I got the [Carpenter] title from making all the cabins and it makes it so I can spawn wood with flora creation and control titles and then smooth them down to more visually appeasing shapes like plants and wood totems.
I felt so... happy... proud... I felt great seeing my progress and what I have made.
It was peaceful for two weeks while I established a small village in my home when the wolves returned, it wasn't difficult to take them out... but the dungeon didn't just send wolves this time.
It sent a bunch of mongooses along with them, the mongooses would throw me off guard and the wolves would deal damage.
The dungeon started using my fear and disgust of mongooses to its advantage... little did it know, that giving me a reason to hate it more was its own undoing.
For roughly two months and two weeks I was dealing with wolves and now I have to deal with my worst fears, I would keep defending my domain except this time instead of waiting for the dungeon to get tired of sending its dog, I would actively hunt down and devour this dungeon core to rid the world of a being that would dare spawn this nasty little monster and one that has the audacity to try and take my territory.
Monsters such as myself have three ways of getting stronger, Killing other creatures, consuming the flesh of sapient species or by absorbing, or in my case eating dungeon cores to not only become way stronger but have the ability to establish dungeons and make other monster.
This greedy dungeon gave me four reasons to destroy it, that's three to many. One, so I can go back to my peaceful life with my comrades. Two, so I wont have to see that ugly mongooses anymore. Three, eating the core with make me exponentially stronger and possibly make me a dungeon master and Four, this is an opportunity for me to make myself a family... I have no gender and thus can't have kids.
But the system says that dungeon masters create monsters from their own blood... so if I become a Dungeon master I can have someone to care for.
The end goal of most animals and monsters is to pass down their bloodlines, but my goal is to have a family of my own in addition to my friend group.
I don't know why, but having a family has been on my mind since... since that wyrm... oh... I'm really in love with for her aren't I. After realizing what I was aiming for and cementing the path I was gonna take, I began to push back against the dungeons forces in search of the core.
After a month and a week of searching I found the core after carving my way through hundreds of mongooses and wolves, it was deep within a cave and I waisted no time in flying down their... yeah I said flying.
I leveled up enough to do so, matter of fact I was lv14 when I invaded the cave and successfully killed its two guarding monster, A big two heading wolf and a disguising oversized mongoose.
The core begged me for mercy in its own way, after forming a link with me and trying to submit. Why would I show this thing mercy... I devoured the egg sized crystal without a second thought.
It screamed and begged until it shattered like the fragile egg of a bird.
I gained the [Labyrinth Master] title, A labyrinth master was a special type of dungeon master with the power to create being from blood, mana and materials. Dungeon masters can only make monsters and claim environments while Labyrinth masters can augment environments, create various monsters from scratch and establish rules in their homes...
I believe I got this special type due to the titles of [Domain keeper], [Sanctuary King], [Terraformer], [Architect], [Archivist], [Botanist] and [Scribe]. I guess things worked out better than I expected, I can not only create my ideal family and homes but I can make my friends a part of it.
In addition to the [Labyrinth Master] title, I got the [Dungeon eater] title meaning dungeons will think twice about messing with me and that I grow even stronger my eating cores, the [Dominator] title allows true control of creatures weaker than myself or forcing my will over their own.
The [Mystic blood] blood means that I can regenerate insanely fast and my creatures would be abnormally strong, it also means that drinking my blood is very beneficial with the side effect of if you drink too much... you become a part of my family... this... this is what I wanted... the system gave me a skill that would allow me to make my friends my family... thank you.
From the fighting the giant mongoose I gained the [Conqueror of Fear] and [Idle of fear], one allows me resistances against fear based effects and the other allows me to inflict fear based effects.
As I reached my home I looked at my body and the many changes I had gone through, I had been so fixated on my titles that I hadn't realized I reached lv15 and that I had reached 20 meters in size.
I had a new ring of feathers around my neck that I could puff up to inflict a hypnotizing effect like a peacocks tail, I had a little scale shaped gem imbedded into my forehead and lastly I had a smaller set of wings below the original... apparently they help me change direction quicker and glide further without using to mana stamina.
My eyes were pitch black with glowing slit pupils, they would randomly shift between the colors orange, green and indigo.
I had a few more titles I got after eating the core, but those can wait for another day. I decided to take a long nap for the first time in three months and three weeks when it was interrupted by screaming... did some stupid predator outside try and get in only to be killed by the widow vines?... I slithered out to see the commotion.
As soon as I locked eyes with them, the third and final conflict began... I lock eyes with a group of very pissed off humans and a screaming human being ravaged by the vines.
I made the vines stop and the human feel and was treated by its fellow pack members, the rest just stared at me with weapons drawn... I'm sure they've never see a giant snake before and they probably be very skittish right now.
I hoped freeing the human would make them realize I was not a threat... didn't work... but on the bright side I have some new armored statues.
And a group of angry fleeing humans... If I learned anything from the ants I see from time to time, If you kill one more follow to retrieve the dead or get revenge... I pray human don't act the same.
This begins my recount of the final conflict between me and the humans... If your wondering it, yes I did count the dungeon sending wolves after me as the first and the second is when I actively sought it out because of it sending monster after me.
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